I could not stop watching this video...
Pretty good video - it reminded me of my childhood. Unfortunately, my dad was never into electronics - I had to discover Radio Shack by myself. I also never got one of those xxx-in-one kits (at least not until ten, or fifteen, years ago. :o ) My kits were single purpose kits (a model car of Snoopy in a red Bugatti (https://www.amazon.com/Snoopy-Classic-Race-Motorized-Model/dp/B0B43ZF6BF) -reissued by Atlantis
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/710KxlyORdL._AC_SL1248_.jpg)
...an AM radio, and other things like that. I went to RS often to get tubes to repair televisions, which I gave to family and friends. I was in our Radio Shack many times using their tube tester (nearly every drug store had a tube tester, but I preferred the tester at Radio Shack because I could just get the tube right there if mine was bad. 8) )
Our Radio Shack also had a rack with James Electronics Jim-Paks - I bought a lot of ICs from that rack. Many years later, I was talking to a woman while ordering something from Jameco, and mentioned that rack - she got excited, and said that she was one who put those packs together. They called themselves the JimPak girls.
(https://4gte.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CD4070.jpeg)
The AI reading the script was very good. However, it showed up by slaughtering several pronunciations. The Commodore PET, for example is referred to as the "Commodore P. E. T." (always heard it called the "pet" not each letter separate) once, and then several minutes later it is the "Commodore Pete." :P The time that it pronounced "A.T. AND T." was irritating. There were several other places where it did things that no human, with any experience with RS, would do. But, overall it was pretty good.
Over all, good memories. Thanks for the video.
Quote from: granz on Mar 26, 2026, 09:13 AMPretty good video - it reminded me of my childhood. Unfortunately, my dad was never into electronics - I had to discover Radio Shack by myself. I also never got one of those xxx-in-one kits (at least not until ten, or fifteen, years ago. :o )
My mom / stepdad weren't into electronics either, and there wasn't a Radio Shack near where I grew up (Watkins Glen, NY). But in the summer I used to go visit my father in Schenectady, NY and he was really into the Radio Shack stereo equipment. He got the catalogs in the mail and I used to drool at all the electronics I didn't think I would ever own (my father was selfish).
When I was 11 (1981?), I had already purchased some items from Radio Shack. But when I was 12 I got my first 150-in-1 kit and that changed my life forever. I used to visit every Radio Shack I could find after that, just to see what they had. I clearly remember the days of the Coco line of computers. But I also bought CD radios, scanners, audio mixers and FX boxes from them (for DJing). The electronics parts were just one small part of my RS life.
Great video. A friend in junior high introduced me to electronics and Radio Shack. There was one within walking distance (30 minutes) and I was there at least once a week. There was also a Jameco distributer in town but I needed to take a bus there so that may be once or twice a year I visited it.
I remember my first kit was a crystal radio kit which used a plastic perfboard I half melted but I did get it to work and I was amazed and started my lifelong interest in electronics! I eventually got a 100-in-1 project kit for Christmas. I always got the catalog, the battery of the month and stared for hours at the peg board of parts they had. I got some of the unique parts such as the SP0256 Speech IC (which I still have) that they sold.
In the mid eighties I briefly worked at one in the local mall. When they went to cell phone sales I did stop going frequently only to return when they had their going out of business sales.
One of my oddest memory of Radio Shack was going to one in the 90's to find part for my computer and when I asked the salesman if they had the part his response was "This is not a computer store". I was standing right beside a IBM PC Jr they were selling at the time when I asked.
Recently I saw something similar happen at MicroCenter. The first time I went in the early 2010's the electronics were in a small section in the back of the the area they sold books at. I was unimpressed but still went at least once a year. That expanded to a whole department with just parts by 2020. It almost felt like Radio Shack again. My last visit there left me a little depressed. The electronics section had shrunk considerably with a lot of electronic parts only available online. Seems like Radio Shack all over again.
I do miss the peg board of parts, the free battery each month and the catalog full of stuff that made my mind wander. RIP Radio Shack.
Quote from: MicroNut on Mar 26, 2026, 09:59 PMRecently I saw something similar happen at MicroCenter. The first time I went in the early 2010's the electronics were in a small section in the back of the the area they sold books at. I was unimpressed but still went at least once a year. That expanded to a whole department with just parts by 2020. It almost felt like Radio Shack again. My last visit there left me a little depressed. The electronics section had shrunk considerably with a lot of electronic parts only available online. Seems like Radio Shack all over again.
Interesting; two weeks ago, I just had my first MicroCenter visit where I did not purchase anything. :( It seems like the maker section is getting smaller. In that section, one full wall is taken by 3D filament. There are lots of tools, but the actual component section seems kind of thread bare.
I sure hope that they are not following in Radio Shack's foot steps.
Quote from: granz on Mar 27, 2026, 06:17 AMInteresting; two weeks ago, I just had my first MicroCenter visit where I did not purchase anything. :( It seems like the maker section is getting smaller. In that section, one full wall is taken by 3D filament. There are lots of tools, but the actual component section seems kind of thread bare.
I sure hope that they are not following in Radio Shack's foot steps.
Yeah, before reading that last sentence, that is
exactly what I was thinking. The signs were there with Radio Shack. And for me it was more than just reducing the electronics parts and focusing on Cell Phones.
Radio Shack used to have their own lines of audio equipment, which were the envy of the other mainstream brands, as most of it was manufactured by Harmon-Kardon. Near the end, when Radio Shack started to falter, they switched to equipment manufactured by Pioneer. I was
not a Pioneer fan.